COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Northern Michigan University volleyball team began its weekend in Ohio with a shutout victory on Friday (Oct.18) evening. The Wildcats defeated Ohio Dominican 3-0 from Alumni Hall in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup. The Wildcats improve to 15-5 overall and remain at the top of the GLIAC standings with a 9-1 record.

"It was a good win for us tonight," NMU coach Dominic Yoder said. "The team played well defensively with Kellisha Harley, Alex Berger and Meghan Supple leading the charge."

In set one, it was a back and forth battle with nine ties and five lead changes. The Panthers had the 20-18 advantage when NMU tied the game at 20. ODU regained its lead to go up 22-21 in, but it wasn't enough for the Panthers to hold on to. The Wildcats scored the next three points to take the 24-22 lead. After two set points, a kill by senior Kalli Herron closed it out.

NMU got out to a quick 13-6 lead in the second set, allowing the Panthers to come within only six points for the remainder of the game. The Wildcats led by as many as 11 and were led by senior Sarah Hamilton with six kills.

In set three, NMU didn't allow ODU to get a lead. The Panthers got within two points (24-22) at the end of the game after a kill by Lauren Kraemer and an attack error by Lopes. But, Lopes answered back on the match point with a kill for the sweep, finishing with five kills in the set.

Hamilton ended the night with a match-high 14 kills while Herron added 11. As a team, NMU had 44 total kills for a .242 attack percentage. Senior Kellisha Harley led the defense with 14 digs, while sophomore Alex Berger (13) and Lopes (12) also finished in double digits. Harley setup the offense with 36 assists.

For the Panthers (8-11, 3-7 GLIAC), Brianna Reder led with 10 kills and Kraemer had eight. The Panthers finished with 28 total kills for a .077 attack percentage. Megan Hendershot had 20 digs with Kelsey Snyder tallying 12 and Lauren Rindler with 11.

NMU continues play in Ohio on Saturday (Oct. 19) against Tiffin at 2 p.m. The Dragons defeated Michigan Tech, 3-1 on Friday.

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